Mango, pineapple & coconut smoothie

As I’m always saying, I love a smoothie for breakfast, especially at the weekend before exercise and then I’m ready for a big brunch. But I also like to quickly make one if I’m rushing out in the morning (remember those days?!), or even to give me an energy boost in the afternoon. This recipe has a lovely tropical flavour to help you forget at it’s October and transport you to a sunny beach somewhere. Ok so that’s probably stretching the limit of it’s capabilities, but Covid is shit and this tastes good, so at the very least it might just be a little highlight in your day!

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 90g mango

• 90g pineapple

• 60g banana

• 2 tbsp chia seeds (white look a lot nicer)

• 400ml coconut milk drink - my favourite is by Rude Health

Method

• Put all the ingredients in the blender and blitz well, so the chia seeds have all broken down and have thickened the smoothie.

Tip

• Where possible use frozen fruit so you don’t need to add ice. Most supermarkets sell a good range of bagged frozen fruit which works out way better value than fresh. If you need to chill your smoothies then just add 2-3 ice cubes to the blender with the rest of the ingredients.

• I never throw away bananas that are a little past their best and going brown, I peel and break them in half then freeze in a sealed bag for smoothies. They’re naturally sweeter when they’re browning and taste really good in smoothies.

Blueberry, coconut & maca smoothie

I love this smoothie. Super quick and easy to prepare too, but I appreciate not everyone has raw maca powder in their cupboard, but it’s pretty easy to find these days, even Aldi stocks it! You could always leave it out though, the smoothie would still taste great.

Maca is an ancient Peruvian root crop from the radish family, which has a malty, slightly caramel-like taste. It's a great supplement to add to your smoothies or porridge as it won't change the original flavour too much. Maca is well worth having in stock as it's high in antioxidants, nutrients such as Vitamins B1 & 2, calcium and iron, and energy-boosting compounds called macamides and macaenes. It is called Peruvian 'ginseng' as it is said to improve energy levels and help to restore hormone imbalances.

Ingredients

Serves 1

• ½ frozen banana

• 1 handful frozen blueberries

• 250ml coconut milk drink

• 1 tsp maca powder

Method

• Just put the ingredients in a blender and blitz!

Tip

• I keep a stock of frozen fruit in my freezer for smoothies as it's so much better than adding ice, which waters the flavour down. When I find bananas in the fruit bowl that are going a bit too brown, I peel them and add to my freezer bag.

• The coconut milk drink I prefer is made by Rude Health - it doesn't contain any additives or thickeners, unlike other brands, just coconut milk, rice and water.